Contrary to what you might have heard from our mainstream media, the “global warming” debate rages on. And while there’s no contesting there have been slight increases in global temperature in its relative recent history, it should be noted that there have been similar temperature fluctuations, both hot and cold, throughout Earth’s longer history.

I’ve considered as much global warming “science” as I’ve been able to digest and concluded that what we’re experiencing, this phenomenon that’s made more than a few careers and become a darling of our mainstream media, is no more than a natural occurrence. And mass marketing at its finest.

I’m certainly not alone in my semi-scientific conclusions. John Stossel’s recent “Give Me a Break” segment about global warming asserts that much, if not most, “scientific” data we’ve been fed comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of “2000 scientists who agree” that global warming is being caused by humans. Included in that group are members of Greenpeace and other activist groups as well as governments that have supported the Kyoto treaty.

Now, I’m no scientist. But when you scrutinize the supporting data proffered by global warming activists, it becomes abundantly clear that it’s being manipulated to support a preconceived theory rather than reach a scientific conclusion based on historical data. Why? Because there are careers now being supported by a segment of the public’s belief that, if we stop driving SUVs, we can affect the relationship between the planet and the sun. Have our egos gotten the better of our senses? We’re being scammed!

And the scam is being supported by any number of Hollywood elitists (read, actors who crave media face time) and other hangers-on who want to feel relevant by association. And our liberal media, let’s not forget its roll. It loves any excuse to report things controversial or, at the least, alarming.

Understand that I’m not holding Stossel up as an expert, and I certainly don’t always agree with him, but he does try to clear away the hype and give us a view through the prism of logic and common sense. And sometimes, when presented with the simple basics, the smoke and mirrors fall away. Give the video below a watch and see if you don’t come away with, at the very least, a better understanding of the relevant issues and the key players. The debate is by no means over.

SignOnSanDiego has posted a great interactive map that allows you to see where the fires are, click on specific areas for the latest statistics and status, click on icons to view photos and videos from specific areas, and more. It’s pretty well done; you can zoom in or out, move the map up or down and pretty much keep track, interactively, of all the fires. Those of you near the fires or with friends or family in harm’s way will appreciate this additional tool to keep informed.

In hills and canyons from Santa Barbara to San Diego, about 8,000 firefighters struggle against more than a dozen wildfires that have scorched at least 645 square miles, an area twice the size of New York City, in the past five days. Seven people have died and 2,327 structures have been destroyed or damaged as of late yesterday. Damages may top $1 billion and have forced almost a million people from their homes, the biggest evacuation in California’s history. There are 22,000 people in shelters across the region, thousands of them in San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. About 2,000 people are at an evacuation center at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

The four major fires that have burned the most homes are far from being controlled, according to the state’s Web site. In San Diego County, there is only 10 percent containment at the Harris Fire, which has burned 73,000 acres and 200 homes, and the Witch Fire that burned 196,420 acres and 645 homes. The Rice fire, which burned 7,500 acres and destroyed 206 homes, is 15 percent contained. Link

How you can help.

My good friend Arnold Christensen took these images night before last from his back yard in Mission Viejo. The fire was three or four miles from his home!

You may have read a few months ago that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is mulling over the idea of opening smaller stores — as small as 20,000 sf or about one tenth the size of its supercenters, to be called “Neighborhood Markets” — as a means of penetrating urban markets and jump-starting growth. (Article)

No surprise, since big-box stores have reached a point of saturation, encountering greater resistance from smaller communities who see them as eyesores that squash competition and force neighborhood stores out of business. Many communities have become increasingly aggressive in their fight against megastores and some, as shown in the photo below, have taken creative steps to express their anger when one is built in their neighborhood…

I’ve been remiss in following up on the Cadbury Gorilla story that’s been one of the most popular posts on this site in some time. The ad was viewed almost 500,000 times on YouTube during the first week of its release! Everyone’s enjoyed it, but the burning question has been, “Who’s the guy in the gorilla suit?”

While many speculated it was Phil Collins himself, it apparently was Garon Michael, a relatively little-known actor who seems to specialize in playing primates, having appeared in Congo, Instinct, and the remake of Planet of the Apes. No stranger to film, he’s appeared with such heavyweights as Anthony Hopkins, Donald Sutherland and Mark Wahlberg.

Says Cadbury spokesman Tony Bilsborough, “We have been amazed by the way the advert has captured the public’s imagination.”

And so it has. It’ll be a tough act to follow!

This is just sad:

In all the stories that came out of 9/11 — stories of love, loss and heroism — Tania Head’s tale had it all.

As president of the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network and as a tour guide at ground zero, she told countless people for the past six years about being burned on the 78th floor of the south tower. Head says she was rescued by a citizen hero, and felt compelled to escape by her promise to return a wedding band to a victim’s wife and by her love for a man she later learned had died in the north tower.

Tania Head’s story, however, was too good to be true, as The New York Times reported Thursday.

Though she’d spoken to journalists for years and recounted her story hundreds of times among other survivors, the newspaper found that nearly every detail of Head’s tale was false. … Story

I know there are people so desperate for attention and acceptance that they exploit victims of tragedies like 9/11 to gain them. They need help, certainly, but there must also be severe consequences…

I grew up in Miami and remember it as primarily a football town. Baseball was an “also ran” sport. Apparently it still is if this news story is any indication. During a recent game between the Florida Marlins and the Washington Nationals, there were only 400 fans in a stadium that can seat nearly 75,000…

Could it be that the exorbitant salaries payed to major league baseball players have finally driven ticket prices beyond the reach of Miami fans? Larry? Ken?

According to this Associated Press story, one of our whack-a-doodle U.S. Senators, a barber with a law degree (an interesting combination) has done just that:

Fed up with the threats, tired of natural disasters, the state’s longest-serving state senator is using his legal muscle against who he says is the culprit — God. State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued the Almighty in Douglas County District Court last week.

Chambers, who skips morning prayers during the legislative session and often criticizes Christians, said he filed the lawsuit to show that anybody can file a lawsuit against anybody…

Chambers, incidentally, once sued to bar legislative prayers in the Nebraska Legislature. The Supreme Court ultimately rejected the lawsuit.

Will somebody please tell me why the good people of Nebraska keep re-electing this guy? Not that he’s the only whack-a-doodle we have in Congress, but give me a break!

In a recent article, BBC News reported on research concluding that a compound extracted from tangerine peel can kill certain human cancer cells, information I thought worth sharing…

According to a research team at Leicester School of Pharmacy, Salvestrol Q40 - a type of phytoalexin (a chemical produced by plants to repel attackers, such as insects or fungi) extracted from tangerine peel, can kill certain human cancer cells. “Salvestrol Q40 is found at higher concentrations in the peel of the tangerine than in the flesh of the fruit, and is converted into a toxic compound by the cytochrome P450 CYP1B1 enzyme:

As a result, the researchers found, it proved to be 20 times more toxic to cancer cells than their healthy equivalents.

Dr. Tan said Salvestrol was found in other fruit and vegetables, such as the brassica family, which includes broccoli and brussels sprouts.

However, the compound tends to be produced at higher levels when infection levels among crops are high.

Therefore, the use of modern pesticides and fungicides, which have cut the risk of infections, have also led to a drop in Salvestrol levels in food.

CYP1B1 has been found to be expressed at a high frequency in a wide range of human cancers of different histogenetic types, including cancers of the breast, colon, lung, esophagus, skin, lymph node, brain, and testis.

Via Hyscience.

This is alarming:

Pasadena (UPI) - A U.S.-led international team of astronomers discovered that Neptune’s south pole is much warmer than the rest of the planet.

The researchers published the first temperature maps of the lowest portion of Neptune’s atmosphere, showing the warmer south pole is providing an avenue for methane to escape from the deep atmosphere.

“The temperatures are so high that methane gas, which should be frozen out in the upper part of Neptune’s atmosphere, the stratosphere, can leak out through this region,” said Glenn Orton of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Orton is lead author of a paper appearing in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. In the paper, the astronomers report the temperature at Neptune’s south pole is higher than anywhere else on the planet by about 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The average temperature on Neptune is about minus 392 degrees Fahrenheit.

The findings were made using the Very Large Telescope located in Chile, operated by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere.

I hope Al Gore is on the case. I just know SUVs are somehow involved… More

“You can’t send me to prison. Who’ll look for the ‘real killer’?”O.J. Simpson walked free yesterday after posting $125,000 bond on armed robbery and kidnapping charges. He left the lockup a few hours after a Las Vegas judge set bail during a nine-minute hearing. Which begs the question: How does a guy with no visible income and no ability to pay the Goldman family any of the $33.5 Million he owes them for the wrongful death civil judgment awarded them for the death of Ron Goldman, come up with $125,000?

Anyway, he’s out and apparently returned to Miami pending his arraignment. Personally, I hope he gets the maximum sentence which I’ve heard could be life (I doubt it’ll go that way, but wouldn’t that be sweet justice?) I’ve heard thirty years, too, so it’s anyone’s guess at this point.

An interesting side note; It seems Marcia Clark, the prosecutor who tried Simpson’s double-murder case in 1995, sat in the front row of the courtroom. This time her hair was bleached blond and her role was a reporter for a tabloid TV show. Funny how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? But a bleach blonde? Go figure!   More

One of the things about the fashion industry that can be quite entertaining is how it sometimes goes way over the top to introduce a new offering. Take this story I found on Perr-Bear….

LONDON (AFP) - To their high society owners, a pair of haute couture shoes can be a precious thing. But to guard a 62,000 pound (120,000 dollar) pair of ruby, sapphire and diamond-encrusted Rene Caovilla sandals at their London launch, retailer Harrods went to extreme lengths: bringing in a live Egyptian cobra to patrol the shoe counter.

Whether hiring a poisonous snake is, strictly speaking, the most effective means of guarding precious footwear might be a moot point with security experts. But it makes for a pretty effective photo opportunity.

A spokeswoman for Harrods admitted that the cobra had been hired strictly for Monday’s launch of the shoe collection. “The snake has now been returned to its owner,” she said.

So no need to fear snake bites at the shoe counter, then? “Not unless you’re a burglar,” the spokeswoman said.

The killer heels (No Dawn, you can’t have them!) were designed by Rene Caovilla, renowned for using rare jewels on his glamorous shoes popular among the celebrity set; Caovilla clients include Diane Kruger and Carmen Electra. This “creation” is the limited edition “Nyssia” sandal. The cobra featured on the shoes has eyes made of rubies and wears a brilliant-cut 3.5-carat diamond and crown on its head. The sinewy body is studded with round-cut, pave-set sapphires: a total of 20.60 carats.

Impressed? I’m sure Cedrick the Snake was a big hit at Harrod’s. But he may want to lay low for a while. Cobra skin is sometimes used to make couture shoes; he might become the next Caovilla “creation”… Video

Making my point from yesterday’s post, Davey sends this satirical ‘toon about the continuing Michael Vick saga…

We Americans often manage to put a humorous spin on events completely lacking in humor. And while I’m the first to laugh at good satirical humor, let’s not lose sight of the issue currently involving Michael Vick. Ever see a “professional” dog fight? “Gypsy” has. Click on the photo on the right for a closer look. And some people still think dog fighting is no big deal?

I’ve been following the Michael Vick story - so have you if you’ve read a paper or watched TV - and had decided not to comment, at least until the dust settles. But with his recent confession, I feel obliged to speculate on where the case might end up.

Let me first say that I abhor animal cruelty in any form and especially the so-called “sport” of training dogs to try to kill one another on command for the enjoyment of betting spectators. It’s a felony and Vick has finally admitted to his involvement in it. Everyone, with the possible exception of some die-hard Falcons fans, agrees that he should be punished. But we appear to be a divided camp, with one side contending that his not insignificant loss of income from endorsements is adequate punishment, and the other believing that he should face formal sanctions like anyone else similarly charged, that the courtroom should be a place that considers only the facts of the case with sentences based on that alone. I stand squarely in the latter camp.

So now that Vick has “confessed” and shown “contrition,” what’s next? Well, we’ll likely endure the usual public teary “apologies” followed by an obligatory appearance on Oprah where Vick will blubber how sorry he is, how he’s now found Jesus, and how he hopes people will forgive him for his “mistake.” Perhaps a probing interview by Larry King will follow, and maybe a book about how he followed the wrong path, found salvation and enlightenment, and established a foundation or two to help “under privileged” children learn to do the right thing. Eventually, folks will forget about Michael Vick’s evil deeds and, if he’s still young enough to play football after serving his sentence, another team will pick him up.

Some apparently feel he should be banned from the NFL. Sorry, but that’s going too far in my opinion. I don’t believe in taking away a man’s millstone. If he serves his time and if anyone will hire him to play or offer him endorsement contracts (pretty big “ifs” right now), then fine. Neuter him? Ban him from the NFL? That would be unreasonable punishment.

As a side note, I’m often amazed and sometimes appalled at how some people manage to find ways to make a quick buck off other folk’s troubles. To wit: The Official “Vick’s” Dog Chew Toy and chewed up Michael Vick memorabilia being offered on eBay. Only in America.

I suppose you’ve all had a chance to chuckle (wonder?) at Caitlin Upton’s convoluted answer to her pageant question (see yesterday’s post) - half of the top vids on YouTube are either of her, about her or making fun of her.